Volvo XC90 T6 Transmission

Comments

Hi jr01741,In answer to your question...YES! I could not go into reverse at all. It would not move...just like the parking break was on. After several attempts and needing to get out, I just put in into reverse and floored it until it moved back. It did so after buckling underneath...believe me it did not sound healthy. I took it to the dealer and this was just after an oil change and inspection, and told them about the problem. They checked it out on the lift and said they didn't see anything, but that maybe it was rust in the parking break or a rock which freed itself. Who knows? I'be been driving it now for 2 days and it seems ok...so good luck! Try it!

Mine went at 126k, xc90t6, 2004. I had wonderful service at a shop in Collingwood, Ontario called: Baywash Auto. They completely replaced and improved on the transmission with better parts etc. for $1800.00. Runs like new now and 20% cooler than before. NA Volvo is shafting customers in this year of volvo and other years with transmissions from GM used in little wee light Sunbirds. They're a terrible replacement tranny in comparision with what Sweden originally offered. There's no way they can handle the weight and torque of an SUV of this size. No brainer but the $ dictates what's "reasonable" for these big auto players. Good luck!

We just got rid of our xc90 not too long ago. transmission was replaced at 32 thousand miles and was already acting up again at 50 thousand miles. We took a bath on it and got 3 thousand less than we owed even though it was in mint condition. it was t6 model. watch out for your next transmission failure. I understand the stress some of you have gone through and just know hang in there and stay on there backs to cover this transmission.

Hi Ziek,After talking to two mechanics, I decided to follow your suggestion. It worked!! Somewhat noisy and a little resistance; but it rolled out without any apparent damage. Thanks for an excellent suggestion. I will take the car to a mechanic shortly to check it up.

Yes we had the meeting and am waiting to hear. Got the same crud from the rep about this being the way it "should" run. They had me test drive two other cars on the lot to prove that it does happen on other vehicles. If this is normal, I would think it would happen on ALL vehicles, not just the two they found. They are suposed to get back to me after talking with the engineers. It hangs in 4th at 1500rpms from 35 to 45 mphs. This is what they call lock-up, a gas-saving feature...yeah right.

Anyways, I as still fighting it since I do a lot of in-town driving at 35-45 mph and it drives me crazy.

I am Heather Hayslett and I have a 2004 Volvo XC90. I love my SUV and am considering purchasing a newer model. I was driving my SUV 2 days ago and the vehicle seemed to get stuck in 3rd gear and would not accelerate. It eventually caught gear and was followed by a dashboard message of "Transmission Service Urgent". I drove and parked the SUV at my mother&#146;s home immediately. The next morning I cranked the vehicle up, the service light was gone and I drove the car home with no issues. A few hours later, I drove the SUV to run an errand and the vehicle began to respond in the same manner as it did before and the service message returned. I decided to try and make it back to my mother&#146;s home, which was nearby and park it. While stopped at an intersection the car would not move. I pressed the gas repeatedly and car would not accelerate. I put my hazard lights on and cut the vehicle off. Once I restarted, it moved into 1st gear but would not shift any further. After a series of cutting the engine off and on repeatedly, I was able to make it to my destination, which was about 2 miles away. I noticed on your site that other complaintents, from the U.S., Australia, and Canada received repair and service at no cost to them after contacting their local Volvo dealership as well as the Volvo customer care line. I have proceeded with my complaint in the same manner. I contacted my local dealership and i;m waiting for a response. I

I have a 2005 XC-90 with 118,0000 miles. The idiot lights went on and said get immediately for service. Had it flatbedded to dealership. Service man said the code indicated transmision problem. He said needed to spend $4500 for complete installation of transmission. You know this car has had clangin and hesitation for a year. You tell the service people this and they of course can't find a problem until its now to late. Why would I want to spend $4500 for a new transmittion. The car is compromised. I can't believe these transmissions are any good. Service man says they will talk to Volvo, maybe they will give me an allowance since we service our car routinely. Yeah right. Anybody got any information for me, Thanks

Yes, definitely keep up with talking to Volvo corporate. I have a 2005 xc90 with over 100,000 miles and had the same problem with my car. They paid for all of it but $1000. I was grateful because I was quoted $6500. So don't give up. I'm sure they will help out.

Hay sadabout, I just bought a 2004 xc90 t6 from Lithia in medford. All the post have now left me scared. It has 65000 miles and runs beautifully at this time (5 hrs into it)Do you think I need to return this thing now (as in its a ticking time bomb) or do you think its worth keeping. I did by an extended warranty with the purchase.Any input would be grateful

Heather,The EXACT same situation happened with my 04 XC90. My car is currently in the shop awaiting a response from Volvo, as to whether or not they are going to provide some assistance with the cost of replacing the new transmission. I had all 4 of my kids in the car at the time, and was nearly hit from behind, when my car failed to accelerate at the traffic light.Good LuckLaura

Just took my wife car in today tranny went. 04 xc90 T6 . Almost got hit from behind when i was on my way to the dealer. Car would not accelerate had to pull over real quick because a truck was behind. Waiting on a response too. She is pretty upset she really like the car. Wanted to buy her a BMW X5 but that's what she liked. Because it's rated for safety and seats seven. It proves today that it's far from being safe.

Dropped off my 04 XC90 yesterday at the dealer. Received a call from the dealer that Volvo was taking care of the Transmission and also a new Radiator. No fuss, No hassles. I bought this car used 2 years ago because I thought it would be a reliable car that would last. I love the car and am glad that Volvo sees there is a problem and is taking care of it.

So, I'm one of the many unfortunate masses that is on my second transmission. I'm now being told I need new tie rod ends, this on a 2005? I thought I had seen some posts where other XC90 owners had major front end issues. Any of you still out there?

My 2nd transmission just went out on my 101000 mile XC90. first one was covered under the extended warranty plan and this one is about 1000 miles over. Dealer wants 7500.00 to replace would you happen to have contact infor for Volvo NW??

I talked to Volvo myself this week to no avail on tie rods. But with the transmission, this is what I did.First, filed a complaint with Volvo on lineSecond, complaint to NTSB on lineThird, complaint to Consumer Protection for my stateFourth, complaint to Atty General for my state-all on line.

Let Volvo know when I spoke to them that I was not happy again, as there was a recall on the ball joints-but she wouldn't budge. They are very aware of all the postings on this site due to all these issues. Keep bugging, and the more we all put in writing, the more I hope we make an impact-these cars shouldn't have these types of issues.Good luck

I'm going through the same problem that you did. My transmission cooler ruptured and there was cross talk between the cooling lines and the transmission. The result was shuddering and a strawberry milkshake in the overflow reservoir. Fortunately the dealer that sold me the vehicle is fixing it as a goodwill gesture as I had owned it for only a month. They really are stepping up for me and I appreciate it.

I was wondering if any of you that had this problem had any subsequent problems after getting this repaired. The Volvo dealer is going to replace the radiator and Transmission and I believe the lines between them. But this was scary. I think I need an extended warranty. Any suggestions?

Hi Heather & LauraThe exact same thing happened with my 2004 XC90 at about the same time except we are the other side of the world in australia. Did you have any luck with your complaint to Volvo? I am not happy as today on the way to its 105 000km service the "Transmission Service Urgent" went on again and I nearly had a car ride into the back of me when I failed to accelerate going around a traffic circle! Every time I stopped I didn't know if I would get going again!Debhttp://www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/emotorcons/emo_frown.gif

I bought a brand new 2004 Volvo XC 90 and my first transmission crapped out at only 15,000 miles. So I got a brand new transmission. And then....at 35,000 miles that one crapped out again. Once again, a new transmission. I only have 51,000 miles on my car now but my extended warranty is going to end next year and it's already paid for one transmission. Bottom line....I traded in the car today because I feel certain I will need another transmission again based on what's already happened to me. And I certainly don't want to risk spending $6,000 to $10,000 more on a transmission on a car that is already devalued due to the transmission problem. I am losing money on my trade-in, and my dealer said "it would be worth probably $4,000 more if it wasn't known to have a transmission problem."

Ironically, I have traded it for the Volvo XC60 as I loved everything about the Volvo except for the transmission and there have been no problems I have heard about with the XC 60.

And the bottom line is that, with only 51,000 miles on the car, I absolutely would have kept the XC 90 it except that I didn't want to risk paying for a new transmission which I felt certain I would do based on it's history (and note that I only did flat road and freeway driving---never did anything unusual with the car). :sick:

I just had my transmission and radiator and lines all replaced free in Portland Or said there was a computer problem with the shifting but I was glad i did not pay anything with 88,000 miles. I also had my tie rods done about 3,000 miles free there must of been some kind of problem but I am having some tie rod problems again and they don't want to fix them again? I love the car but I wish it got better gas mileage. Tomv4

I had the same surprising experience. My 2005 XC 90 with 84K miles needed a new transmission and radiator. The price quoted was $6700. I asked my service advisor to call the regional sales manager to see what Volvo would contribute. I also called Volvo USA at 800-458-1552 and they opened a "case." The rep at Volvo USA told me Volvo was aware there was a problem with the T6 transmission and if the car had under 100K miles, "Volvo would do the right thing." She was right. Without any arguing or haggling on my part, Volvo is paying for 100% of the new transmission. I was dealing with Superior Volvo in Kansas City. It is part of the Hendricks automotive group. Good luck to everyone else.

I have a 2005 XC90 with about the same mileage. My transmission has been showing problems for about a year now but it just keeps on trucking! Volvo has checked it out twice now and has even replicated the problem but says they can't do anything until the "trasmission urgent" light comes on...which it hasn't!! Did you expereience problems leading up to your transmission failure? Did you get a "transmission urgent" code when your transmission failed? I'm just worried with the mileage that they I will go beyone 100,000 and they won't fix the problem.

I have a 2004 XC90 (93,0000 miles) that has given us intermittent transmission problems over the last 2 years. The dealership had not been able to replicate the problem until recently. We were out of town in a torrential rain storm and on our way home, the car would not shift out of 3rd gear. We finally gunned the engine and it shifted and we made our way home. The dealership diagnosed the problem and said we needed a new transmission--the cost over $5000. We contacted Volvo after reading about the extensive widespread transmission problem. They agreed to pay for the parts if we covered the labor. After having my car for over 3 weeks, we finally got it back and it's performing well. It was definately undriveable and scary before it was repaired. I would be interested in learning why Volvo hasn't recalled the transmission and is replacing them all for free. However, the manager told me to keep my receipt and if they ever do recall the transmissions, I'll get my $1200 back.

My XC90 has 101K miles and the transmission just went with no warning except the dreaded message "Transmission Service Urgent".. It would seem to me that the message would better read "$7,500 repair ahead". My dealer offered us a slight discount on the repair and I filed a complaint with Volvocare. No response yet. Given the enormous issues with the XC90 transmissions, I'm surprised no one has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturer for defective engineering design.

I am a single mom with a transmission that has just died on my 2005 XC90 at only 65,000K. I have called Volvo USA and they said I had to start with the dealership. Do you still have any of the information or contacts that helped you with this? I bought this car thinking it would last me years and now I am in this nightmare!

When I filed a claim with Volvo, my major complaint was that I had problems with the transmission several services before the warranty ran out. They checked with the dealership and confirmed this so they agreed to pay for the parts. I think if we didn't have problems earlier, they may not have been so generous.

I too am having the problems with the 2004 XC90. I bought this for my wife in April, before I left for Iraq ,as it was supposed to be a great family car and we needed the room for our upcoming baby. Unfortunately about 2 months later the transmission started crapping out. I contacted Volvo NA, even though we are in Germany, since the vehicle was purchased through Military Car Sales. They are trying to help me as much as they can. We are waiting on the results of the Service Center test. If it states that we need a new transmission then Volvo will investigate. It's frustrating though since I am stuck in Iraq and my wife is 2 weeks from childbirth. The Service Center tech said it would cost between 5-6,000 EURO to replace if we need a new transmission. It will probably be the last Volvo I ever buy.